My Jeopardy! Journey - At the Studio

 It’s not everyday someone can show up to Sony Entertainment and expect to tape Jeopardy! So needless to say, this was a big deal. Forget that this has been on my bucket list. Forget that I’ve been watching Jeopardy! for a very long time (remembering specifically that the 1991Tournament of Champions was my first real memory of watching it, on an old school TV in my bedroom).  The only thing I needed to focus on was showing up….and hopefully winning.

I wait in the lobby of my hotel and catch the shuttle to Sony.  A few of the contestants were very chatty near the front of the shuttle bus.  Us in the back were a little less chatty. I make conversation with a couple of people behind me (one who I later find out is the returning champion, Dan McShane – who is building a big schoolgirl fanbase on Tumblr).  Even though it wasn’t, the ride to the studio seemed like the LONGEST RIDE OF MY LIFE.

We get there, it’s super sunny and warm outside (for November), and we meet two more contestants there. We get our clothes and bodies scanned, meet up with Glenn and Corina (two of the contestant coordinators), and head to the “green room.”  I can’t remember if the room was actually green, but it was nice.  Comfy.  We passed through part of the Jeopardy! Hall of Fame to get to the green room, which was right across from an obscene display case of what seemed like 5,067 Emmy Awards.  Snacks and drinks are waiting on us.  I choose healthier fare (fruit) instead of the donuts which looked SO DELICIOUS.  I made sure to semi-chug a Coke, because if I didn’t, the caffeine-withdrawal headache I would inevitably get near the end of the day would probably be my kryptonite.

We (the contestants….referred to here on out as “we” or “us”) go over our paperwork, sign more paperwork, and practice our “Hometown Howdies,” which are greetings to be sent to our various local TV stations that broadcast Jeopardy!.   Then, the “Maggie Show” begins.  Maggie Speak is a contestant coordinator who loves her job.  Seriously, her spirit and passion is infectious.  If I was in a position to hire someone for something, I would try to snatch her away from Jeopardy! in a second.  She is so good at getting us excited, inspiring us, and making us smile.  I would find out throughout the day just how awesome she is.  Before the “Maggie Show,” she sat down next to me and said, “I’m going to hang with you today. You seem fun.”  Aw shucks, Mags.

For about an hour, we listen to Maggie as she tells us about former contestants, strategy, goes over the rules, advises us on what to do in tricky situations, and encourages us to do our best.  While she’s presenting, contestants are going in one by one to get their makeup done.  I appeared on Wheel of Fortune in 2005, and got my makeup done by Clint Eastwood’s daughter.  But it wasn’t until I was in the makeup chair that it really sank in that, “Hey Preston, you’re about to go on a national game show for the second time in your life.”  How many people can say that?  I would find out later that “about two dozen” people have been on both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! It was so surreal.  Not to mention that the makeup person was giving me what she referred to as a “fake tan.”  I needed it; I’m a red head, therefore, quite pale.

Maggie finishes the orientation, and we leave the green room to start the practice games.  The coordinators take us to the stage, and it wasn’t until I heard fellow contestant Michael say “wow” did I realize that I was standing on the freakin’ Jeopardy! stage.  It was so bright, so purple and blue.  It was a dream come true.  I get called to stand behind a podium as the stage manager gave us instructions on how to use the telewriter and the signaling device.  It’s not a buzzer, it’s a “signaling device.”

For two games, contestants rotate in and out of a mock game, using the actual signaling device, the actual podium, the actual game board.  I don’t get called to go to the stage until deep into Double Jeopardy of the first mock game. I start playing, get in on a few buzzes, and then I hit a “Daily Double.”  Knowing this is all play money, I bet it all, and double up on a clue about The Prince and the Pauper.  Double Jeopardy! was over, we went to Final Jeopardy!, and I bet it all again on the category of “State Capitals.”  “This is the only three word state capital.”  Boom, I’m already writing down Salt Lake City before the “think music” starts playing.  I double up, win the “game,” and proceed to start hamming it up. I knew Maggie would like that. She did.  I even did the paused jumping, fist in the air pose.  Lots of laughter from fellow contestants and the contestant coordinators ensued.

We play another mock game.  Again, I don’t get called until late in Double Jeopardy!, but we don’t play Final Jeopardy! because.....HERE COMES THE AUDIENCE.  OH MY GOD PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO WATCH ME PLAY JEOPARDY! TODAY.   This might not be 100% accurate, because at this point, I get a little nervous.

Jeopardy! tapes five episodes in a day.  There are three episodes taped back to back, a lunch break for the contestants, and then two more episodes.  I’m not drawn for the first episode – the “Monday” episode.  So, I get to watch from the audience.  This is the same for the “Tuesday” and “Wednesday” episode.  There were some questions in those first three episodes I didn’t know, and also some “triple stumpers” that I wanted to jump up with my hand in the air and shout, “Me! Me! I know!” So, because I wasn’t called to the stage during the morning taping, I get a free lunch on Jeopardy!  w00t! 

As a quick aside, Alex is awesome, and crazy, and curmudgeonly, and slightly inappropriate.  He makes drinking jokes, talks about the recent sex scandals, and answers audience member’s questions in a way that shows he’s not going to take anybody’s crap. He being hilariously bizarre was one of my favorite parts of the day.

We return to the studio after lunch, and those of us who are left play another mock board.  Then the “Thursday” episode starts, without me.  As that episode wraps up, I was facing a dilemma. If I was drawn for the “Friday” episode, then fine, I would tape that episode.  If I wasn’t drawn, I would have to report back to the studio the next day to do the process all over again. We were there on a Tuesday, and they were taping five more episodes the next day (Wednesday).  Now trust me, I wouldn’t have minded that one bit.  Another hour of watching “The Maggie Show?”  Sign me up!  Well, names are drawn, and it’s me!  It’s me!  I go take one more bathroom break (sorry for the overshare), and then I step on stage to hopefully not embarrass myself in front of America (and apparently, according to Alex, parts of the Middle East). 

“THIS…IS….JEOPARDY!  HERE ARE TODAY’S CONTESTANTS….A PRE-LAW PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND ATTORNEY, ORIGINALLY FROM HOMINY, OKLAHOMA…..PRESTON NICHOLSON….”  Let the game begin.

Other Posts:

Part 1 - The Online Test

Part 2 - Preparing for the Audition

Part 3 - The Audition

Part 4 - Getting the Call

My Jeopardy! Journey - Getting the Call

The audition is done, and now I wait.  The coordinators told us that if we’re lucky enough to get called, it would be sometime in the next eighteen months.  EIGHTEEN MONTHS.   I might have to wait around until December 2012.  That would be no good for my nerves.

Even getting the call is slim.  Over 100,000 people take the online test each year.  Out of those 100,000, around 3,000 are invited for an in-person audition.  That’s 3%, people.  Out of those 3,000 people, around 400 are selected to be on the show.  In summary, 400 out of 100,000 people who try get on the show each year.   That’s 0.4%.  Not even 1%.  Plus, this is my first time in the pool.  Why should they select me now?  The odds were certainly stacked against me…until October 5^th.

I’m sitting in my office organizing my Outlook calendar when the phone rings. I knew if I ever got the call from Jeopardy!, it would probably be from the 310 area code.  That’s the area code that was used when I got the call from Wheel of Fortune.  I remember weird things like that.  Lo and behold, I look down at my phone, and it’s a 310 number.  I jump up, shut my office door, and take the call.

Corina from Jeopardy! asks me to verify the information that I submitted on my initial paperwork.  She doesn’t invite me to be on the show when we first start talking, but at this point, I’m pretty sure it’s coming. I read online that they like to do the “fakeout” before they actually extend you an invitation to tape.  Well, I answered her questions, and then she asked me to tape in November.  I was freaking out in my mind, but I did a good job of keeping composure while on the phone with her.  I find out I’m expected in L.A. for tapings on November 8^th and 9^th.  That’s one month away.

One more thing is interesting about the timing of this call.  That morning, as I was getting ready for work, I randomly thought, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if Jeopardy! called me tomorrow, so I could get the call before my 30^th birthday?”  Little did I know I wouldn’t have to wait until “tomorrow” for the call, because I was going to get it “today.”

With one short month before I’m expected to answer trivia questions on national TV, I start a study regimen.  My friend Robert sent me a large collection of Jeopardy! episodes he had collected and recorded.  I owe a big debt of gratitude to him for this.  I watched A LOT of those episodes.  I also pored over lists about presidents, capitals, Shakespeare, science, literature, and read some books about U.S. history.  I was very realistic with myself – I couldn’t learn EVERYTHING, so why not study enough so that I feel confident when I go on stage, knowing I did what I could do with the time I had. 

As expected, October was the quickest month I’ve ever experienced.  November 7^th rolls around, it’s 5:00pm, and I find myself sitting in a hotel room in L.A. waiting on my friend Kay to get there so we could go to dinner.  After dinner, she spends some time using one of my books to ask me questions about comic strips, bodies of water, etc.  After this, I go to bed and try to sleep.  You want to guess how well I was able to sleep?

Other Posts:

Part 1 - The Online Test

Part 2 - Preparing for the Audition

Part 3 - The Audition

My Jeopardy! Journey - The Audition

This is part three of my blog about my Jeopardy! experience.  For parts one and two, please see the links at the end of this article.

It’s the morning of my audition, and I had to go to work.  I presented at New Student Orientation on campus that morning (working in academic advising, being present at New Student Orientation is a must), so as soon as that presentation was over, I jumped in the car and headed to KC.  I was tempted to listen to a book on my Kindle on the way there to get the brain going, but I opted to sing loudly to music on my iPod on the way there instead (to get my energy up).  Funny looks from fellow motorists were abundant.  I did this until I realized, “Oh crap, my voice is getting scratchy.”

I get to the Kansas City hotel where it was held pretty early.  I go into the holding room to fill out the application with my brand new, swanky, Jeopardy! click pen (which looks just like my swanky Wheel of Fortune click pen that's now out of ink).  Pretty standard fare – are you running for public office, have you ever been convicted of a felony, on what channel does the show air….crap.  What are the call letters?  I have no idea.  “Topeka Affiliate.”  That will have to do.  Little did I know that my local cable company would stop broadcasting the “Topeka Affiliate” one week before my Jeopardy! debut (but again, more on that later). I’m one of the younger people in the room.  The contestant coordinators (awesome folks, by the way) come in to take an instant picture of us – Fujifilm, not Polaroid.  My picture was pretty sexy.

We are escorted to the official audition room, where Robert, one of the contestant coordinators, goes over the rules and gets us pumped up.  I am now sufficiently pumped up, although some others were way more pumped up than me.  Some people were trying way too hard to get the coordinators’ attention.  They lead us through a mock game with everyone in the room participating by raising our hands.  I was the very first person called on in the mock game, and after answering, was complimented on my voice and quickly choosing the next category.

After that, we start the fifty question test.  A few times during the test, I made eye contact with one of the coordinators, and we smiled at each other.  “Ooh, I know that one….wait, I know that one too…OMG…wow, I just studied that….oh crap.”  Fifty questions later (sorry, I can’t reveal details of the questions – cheaters, scram!), I’m pretty confident I passed.  The rumor on the internets is that 35/50 is a passing score.  I definitely scored above 35.  In fact, I think I scored anywhere between 39-41, which is pretty close to what I think I scored on the online test.

The coordinators go outside to grade the test, and people in the room start comparing answers.  I felt bad because one guy realized he missed quite a few, and became sufficiently bummed.  I realized I missed quite a few also, including making a stupid mistake on what might have been one of the easiest questions on the test.  To my credit though, I did get some obscure questions that many in the room realized they missed.

After they come back in, the coordinators tell us they are going to call us up in groups of three to play a mock game, in no particular order.  This is different than the way they used to do it.  They used to cut some people after they graded the fifty question test.  But now, they let everyone stay and play the second mock game.  Again, I’m the VERY FIRST PERSON THEY CALL.  Random?  Maybe.  For the record, I was in the first group at my Wheel audition, and that worked out pretty well.  I’m jokingly introduced as the 47-day returning champion, I bow, and we start the game.  I pick the first category, then after, the coordinator says, “that’s how you do it.”  Did I just get complimented for a second time on my voice and gameplay?  Holy crap.  I get outbuzzed a few times, but get in a few times, and I get all my questions right.  They start interviewing the three of us; I get some laughs from the coordinators and from the crowd, and then the other two get questions.  In that moment, I felt like my interview was short, and it was definitely shorter than many others, but I think it went well, nonetheless.  We take our seats and stay for the remainder of the audition, watching and supporting the others.

One guy was there for his sixth audition, about half were there for their second or third audition, and most of the younger people were there for the first time. The woman I played against in my mock game will definitely be on the show.  She was interesting and camera ready.  A few others will also definitely get on.  They were funny and interesting.  But that’s what makes it so tough – no one was outright bad.  Although, one guy missed three questions in his mock game all in a row.  He looked like he needed a hug.

Overall, I did all I could do, so it would now be in their hands. At this point, I'm in the contestant pool for eighteen months, so if I didn't get selected this time, I could start the audition process again in January 2013. Thousands of people audition each year for 400 spots, so the odds were against me.  I had no idea if my being on Wheel would help me (“he’s camera ready….”) or hurt me (“let’s give others a chance…”).  I could have had an amazing audition, but not get selected because there’s just not room for me.

At this point, I had two goals.  Continue studying, but also try and go on with my life.  Try being the operative word.

For part two (Preparing for the Audition):  Preparing for the Audition

For part one (The Online Test):  The Online Test

My Jeopardy! Journey - Preparing for the Audition

This is part two of a blog about my Jeopardy! experience.  For part one, follow the link at the bottom of this article.

I came home in early May to find an email from Jeopardy! inviting me to an in-person audition in Kansas City.  The audition was on a Tuesday in June at 11:00am. After I RSVP’ed, I went to the Jeopardy! message board to see if anyone else had posted about receiving an audition. A few had, but all of them reported having auditions that weekend before. I would soon find out that I was attending the last audition they would hold in Kansas City. I figured this was a good thing, right?  Fresh on their minds?

Most people don’t start prepping for the show (i.e. studying) until after they’ve gone through the audition, or for many, until they get the call asking them to come tape.  I, however, am a worrier.  I would hate to show up to the audition and fail the written test.  In Part 3 of this blog, I will talk about the actual audition, including that written test, in detail.

So, I begin studying.  In college, I bought a few books on a whim as I was thinking about the possibility of being on the Jeopardy! College Tournament.  First, I bought this:

And then, I bought this:

 

These are both books that break down crucial facts that “anyone going on a game show or playing trivia should know.”  So, I thought it would be a good idea to read them.  I studied them, learned many new things (and recognized some errors in the first book), and also spent time reviewing the Jeopardy! Archive – www.j-archive.com. I also searched online for audition stories from other folks who had gone through the process before.  However, I didn’t stress myself out too much about it, because at some point you just have to leave it up to fate.  I knew I couldn't study everything. I tried to see the bright side - if this whole Jeopardy! thing didn't work out, the studying I did wouldn't go to waste because I would likely use the knowledge at some point at local trivia I play each week.

Mostly what the studying helped me with was feeling confident.  When audition day arrived, I was confident that I had at least made an effort to be prepared and knowledgeable about how the day would go.  Onto the audition…

For part one of this article (The Online Test):  The Online Test

 

My Jeopardy! Journey - The Online Test

I have been very fortunate, in that I've been able to realize my dream of being on a game show.  In fact, I have been on two - Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Even crazier (in my opinion), I have been able to appear on both shows, and I'm only 30 years old!

In the next few posts, I want to share all about my Jeopardy! experience in 2011.  As you read these entries, please feel free to leave comments about your experience.  If you'd like more info on anything related to the Jeopardy! process, the Wheel of Fortune process, or anything else related to getting on game shows, please check out the sidebar of this blog to find out how to contact me.

My journey, along with everyone else that wants to be on Jeopardy!, began with the written test that Jeopardy! administers yearly.  You sign up for the test through the show’s web site, where you choose on what date you’d like to test the test (out of three options) and what city you’d like to visit for an audition should you be chosen for one.  Normally, they give you six to eight options for audition cities, and luckily for me, Kansas City was one of the options.  I live about 40 minutes from KC, so that was a no-brainer.

The weekly trivia show I love is on Wednesday night, so I had to show up late, as my test was on Wednesday night in early February.  I could have chosen a Monday or Tuesday test, but Jeopardy! recommends that people in the Central time zone take it on Wednesday.   I should say that I've taken the test three times, but have never been chosen for an audition, although I believe I've passed the test every year (more on that later).  Not everyone that "passes"the test gets an audition. In fact, once you pass the test, it becomes a random selection process to determine who they will invite to an audition.  I just hadn't been lucky enough to be selected for an in-person audition in previous years.

The test consists of 50 clues in 50 different categories.  The show says that the clues are “bottom of the board” difficult. I’d disagree to an extent. There are some very tough clues on the test, but some pretty general ones, also.  If you’d like to see what the test looks like, some people have uploaded videos of the test to Youtube.  But, because they weren’t supposed to do that in the first place, I’m not going to link to one.

Well, I sit down to take the test, and it’s a doozy.  There are some questions I know immediately, some I had no clue on, some I figured out at the last minute, and some I guessed one (both successfully and unsuccessfully).  It really does cover a range of subjects – history, film, science, wordplay, literature….lots of literature.  I felt like there was more literature than anything else on the test.  I haven’t read a lot of “classic literature,” but because of high school quiz bowl, I was able to learn a lot about many different types of works.  On the show, it’s usually one of my strongest subjects.

What makes the test super difficult is the speed.  Once a question comes on the screen, you have about fifteen seconds to type in your answer.  If you don’t type it in in the allotted time, you miss your chance and you can’t go back and answer a question after the test has moved on.  Despite this, I tried to jot down on a scratch piece of paper what I answered for each question, so I could go back and check it.  The Jeopardy! message board users usually post a transcript of the test on the message board after it’s all said and done, so that’s a great way to go back and check your work.

I finish the test, quickly check some clues on which I was unsure, and then head to trivia night.  After trivia night wrapped up, I came home and officially “checked my work.”  I finished the test getting 40 questions right out of 50!  Jeopardy! lore says that 35 out of 50 is “passing,” but no one with any real knowledge or power has ever confirmed this. 

So, now that I have passed the test (I think), all I can do is sit back and wait to see if they ever notify me about an audition.  Fast forward to May, and I return home one evening to an email from Jeopardy!.....